Huskies still in hunt for Pac-10 crown

  • John Sleeper / Herald Writer
  • Monday, October 22, 2001 9:00pm
  • Sports

By John Sleeper

Herald Writer

SEATTLE – For the Washington Huskies, the trick is to stay in the hunt for the Pacific-10 Conference going into November, UW coach Rick Neuheisel said.

At 5-1, 3-1 in the conference going into Saturday’s game at Arizona State, the Huskies find themselves in as good position as they can be, given their uneven play that required them to stage comebacks against Cal, USC and Arizona.

“Arizona State has one of, if not the best offensive line in the conference,” Neuheisel said. “Given that we’ve given up a lot of rushing yards in the last two weeks, that does not sit well. We’ve got to do a great job in stopping the run.”

Neuheisel said tailback Willlie Hurst, who sat out much of the Arizona game with a thigh bruise, may miss some practice this week.

“Our hope is that he’ll be ready for the game,” Neuheisel said. “We’re going to need him.”

Tailback Rich Alexis, who missed some plays after absorbing some heavy hits against Arizona, will play Saturday, Neuheisel said.

Pickett OK: UW quarterback Cody Pickett came through the Arizona game relatively unscathed. Two weeks after separating his shoulder against USC, Pickett played the entire game Saturday, survived a savage hit directly on the shoulder and should play against Arizona State.

“He’s sore, but healthy,” Neuheisel said. “He gained a great deal of experience from the contest. We need him to be successful both throwing and running.”

Flowers blooms: ASU tailback Delvon Flowers, who has fought injuries his entire career with the Sun Devils, broke out for 226 rushing yards against Oregon State Saturday, 200 in the second half.

“He came back from having his knee reconstructed,” USU coach Dirk Koetter said. “Nobody worked harder in our off-season program than Delvon Flowers. He had a groin pull clear back in two-a-days and missed about half of our two-a-day work. About the time he got over that, he struggled with some hamstring problems. Last week was the first week where Delvon’s been able to go the whole week of practice without missing any reps.”

Short routes: Pickett was named the Pac-10’s offensive player of the week after throwing for a school-record 455 yards on 29 of 49 passing. He threw for three TDs and four interceptions … Neuheisel said injured linebackers Kai Ellis (knees) and Tyler Krambrink (wrist) may be available for the ASU game … The UW-Stanford game Nov. 3 did not get picked up by any of the television networks. It will begin at its original starting time at 12:30 p.m. … Koetter, who coached at Boise State last year, said he was elated to see the Broncos upset previously unbeaten Fresno State Friday night. Having recruited most of the BSU players, he said he was “close to tearing up.”

University of Washington football player Sam Cunningham was pictured with coach Rick Neuheisel on the back cover of Sunday’s sports section. Cunningham was misidentified in a photo caption.

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